A/N Since I had already written this out, here is the next update, a little early but I hope you'll like it!
2
Back at the Farm
"I don't know uncle Jesse, I guess he wants ta be alone for now. He sure was mad when he got out of the General before," Bo explained as they sat at the dinner table, a big pot of crawdad soup standing in front of them.
"That don't matter none Bo, that boy knows we's waitin for him, so he'll be back soon, and until then… we wait," Jesse said with a stern voice.
"But uncle Jesse, I'm not sure if he'll be back tonight. It looked like he was goin to the Boars Nest. Maybe he'll be eatin there?" Bo asked, hoping his uncle would agree with him. No matter how worried he was bout Luke, his hunger had gotten the better of him.
Seeing the look on his uncle's face told him to go no further, so he backed down, slouching in the kitchen chair.
An hour later…
Jesse Duke was wringing his hands. Partly out of worry, partly out of anger. Shoving his chair backwards, he told his family they could eat if they wanted.
But by now, Bo wasn't even hungry anymore. He was getting worried about his wayward cousin. After last night, and this afternoon, he felt he had reason to. His normally level-headed elder cousin wasn't known for staying away for dinner. Heck he was the most responsible person Bo knew.
"I'm goin to the Boars Nest, an' if that boy's there, I'm gonna take him by the ears and drag him back to this here farm," Jesse spoke, grabbing the keys of the white pick-up truck.
"I'll go check Sarah Ray's place," Bo said, "he mentioned her a few times last night, and I'm a guessin she's got somethin ta do with all of this."
As Jesse put the soup back on the stove, Bo was already gone. The roar of the General Lee could be heard, just as the phone started to ring in the Duke household.
"Jesse Duke speakin'," Jesse answered, worry gnawing at his stomach. This had to be about Luke…
His mind shifted back to a few months ago, when his eldest nephew had been fighting for his life in that cold hospital. Machines keeping him alive as a ventilator pumped air into his weakened lungs. He had pulled through however, making a speedy recovery, something they hadn't expected, seeing as how he had been in a coma for about a week.
A rough voice pulled Jesse out of his thoughts however, as the person on the other end of the line started speaking.
"Uncle Jesse? It's Cooter. Look I'm at the Boars Nest, an' Luke's here too. Err, I hate ta say this, but he don't look too good," the Hazzard mechanic explained through the phone.
"Uncle Jesse? Ya still there?"
"I ain't yur uncle Jesse, Cooter," Jesse sighed. The relief he felt that Luke was safe and sound was slightly overshadowed by the sound of Cooter's voice.
"I know uncle Jesse. But see, I can't leave, seein as Roscoe wrecked my tow truck, tryin ta catch some tourist in one of his speedintraps… So I think ya better come an' get im, cause he's about ta fall of his chair," Cooter ended, waiting for the response he expected.
"I'm a comin Coot, ya just give im some coffee or somethin, jus keep him there," Jesse didn't wait for the response, hanging up the phone, as he made his way towards the truck, telling Daisy to try and reach Bo on the CB to tell him they found their lost Duke.
- o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o -
Bo reached Sarah Ray's house in record time. He knew his cousin. If there was something that bothered him, it had to do with family or his love life. And seeing how Luke had been acting, he just knew it had to do with Sarah Ray. And he sure hoped it had nothing to do with the stories he had heard about the girl a few years back. She supposedly wasn't too loyal to her boyfriends in her younger years. Shaking his head Bo banned those thoughts from his mind. He had no right to accuse someone of betraying his cousin. And he wasn't going to do that. Sarah could have changed, maybe something else happened…
He made his way up to the front door in large strides, knocking on the screen door, seeing the light burning inside.
The screen door creaked when Sarah Ray opened it slowly, an embarrassed look manifesting itself on her face as she saw who it was. Standing in the small opening she didn't even wait to hear what Bo had to say.
"Look Bo, it wasn't my fault. He wasn't supposed ta come back and see thát."
Confusion was written on Bo's face as a frown marred his young features.
"See what Sarah?" he asked, sensing that she knew exactly what was going on with his cousin.
Now it was her turn to look confused. But after the confusion, understanding dawned on her.
"Ya mean… He didn't tell ya?" she snorted, "I always thought you two was close. Guess I was wrong,"
"See what Sarah?" Bo repeated, starting to feel irritated with the slender blonde.
Sarah sighed, knowing he would find out sooner or later she decided to tell the truth. It wasn't like they would want to talk to her ever again after this…
"Last night, 'bout an hour after you an' Betty Jo left the Boars Nest, Luke took me home. After he left Brett came…" she trailed off.
Bo had been listening intently to her short story, and every second she continued made him more suspicious of what was about to come.
Taking a defensive pose Sarah defended herself,
"Look, if Luke 'd just stayed away, he wouldn't have seen me an' Brett, ya know. But the darn fool came back. Started a big fight with Brett, tryin ta defend me! An' when I told em ta stop it, that Brett wasn't molestin me, he looked at me with those puppy dog eyes, an' left…" Sarah's voice got softer in the end, and she actually looked sympathetic, "I didn't mean for this ta happen Bo. I just… Luke's a real great fella, I do love im… An' I told him I was real sorry. I need somethin steady and real, an' ta be honest, I ain't sure if Luke was ready for that. But after last night, I guess he don't want ta talk ta me anymore… "
To say that Bo was mad, was an understatement. On the other hand, he felt a little sympathy for her too. She made a mistake, but she hurt his cousin. And that was something Bo didn't take lightly.
"So what yur sayin is, ya cheated on him because ya loved him too much?" he snorted before turning away from the betraying blonde standing in the doorway.
"Ya know what, I always thought you an' Luke where the real thing. I never saw him more open than when he was with you… I guess you didn't deserve him after all," he ended, leaving the saddened girl watching the cloud of dust settle down as the spinning wheels of the General Lee skidded off of her daddies property.
That boy sure knows how ta stand up for his cousin. I wonder where that wayward cousin of his is at this same moment…
When Jesse pulled up at the parking lot he already saw Cooter Davenport waiting for him with an anxious look on his face. Getting out of the car, faster then anyone would expect from the elderly man, he made his way to the family friend in record time.
"Where is he Cooter?"
Shaking his hat covered head, Cooter pointed towards the long and dusty road.
"I'm real sorry uncle Jesse, but he took off…"
Amazement seeped into Jesse's veins, "He took off? Didn't ya try ta stop him?" he asked the mechanic.
Lifting up his dirty hat, Cooter revealed an angry looking bruise covering his right eye.
"I sure did try Uncle Jesse, but that boy's got a mean left hook, even when he's drunk enough ta pass out," he said, ducking his head in shame. And while understanding dawned on Jesse, he clapped Cooter on the back in a friendly manner.
"Is alright Coot, I know ya did everythin ya could ta stop him. Now which way did he go?"
Looking up, Cooter pointed in the direction he had seen his friend stumbling along, just minutes ago, "My guess is he went in the direction of Millers Road, if ya hurry, you ´ll catch im."
"Thanks Cooter," Jesse answered before getting in his old, rusty truck and driving up the darkening road. At that moment the CB crackled to life.
"This is Lost Sheep one, calling Shepard, uncle Jesse, you there?", came the voice of Bo Duke.
"This is yur Uncle Jesse Bo, what's wrong?" Jesse answered, hoping Bo had already run in to his older cousin.
"I just saw Sarah Ray, an' I think it's safe ta say she's the reason of Luke's weird behaviour,"
"How's that, that boy didn't do somethin stupid did he?" Jesse asked, hearing Bo snort in response.
"No, let's say it was her doin the stupid thing. She cheated on im with Brett Learson, said it was because she loved im too much when he caught them," Bo said, letting the sentence linger in the air for a while. He expected a quick response from his uncle, but nothing came.
"Uncle Jesse? You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here Bo. I'm just not likin this situation," he said, and adding to himself, "Sounds to darn familiar…"
"Whatta ya say uncle Jesse?" Bo asked, confused with the murmur of his uncle.
"Nothin. Look, I'm drivin towards Millers Road, Cooter said Luke walked that way when he left the Boars Nest. I'm a guessin he's here somewhere, you go home an' fill in Daisy and you two eat some crawdad soup. I'll make sure Luke get's home."
"Alright, an' uncle Jesse? Don't be too mad at im, he really liked her…" Bo said before turning the General and heading back to the Duke Farm.
- o -o -o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o